


Confidant

by happy_go_fluffy



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anne saves the day, Cuddling, Dellie is an excellent wingwoman, Disney Movies, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gilbert can't hide his heart eyes, Gilbert tries to babysit, Kid Fic, Modern spin on 3x05, Tooth Rotting Fluff, Uncle Gilby, babysitting fic, grab your toothbrushes, raccoon gilbert, tangled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24599800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happy_go_fluffy/pseuds/happy_go_fluffy
Summary: “Dellie, today was crazy.” She smiled at him with what few teeth she had and cocked her head like a puppy.“I need you to work with me tonight okay? Whatever this happy thing is you have going on, I need you to keep it up. I will feed you all the snacks and we can watch as much Daniel Tiger as you want until it’s time for bed, okay? Think you can do that for Uncle Gilby?”This fic is shamelessly fulfilling my need for a teen babysitting fic as well as playing with the aftermath of the 3x05 dance scene :)
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Mary Lacroix/Sebastian ''Bash'' Lacroix
Comments: 29
Kudos: 193





	Confidant

Junior year was turning out to be a lot more hectic than Gilbert had anticipated.

First semester had gone smoothly. The hell that was sophomore year was finally over and he was enjoying freedom from his hardest class schedule to date.

Second semester was a different story entirely. He had gotten all the science electives he’d requested and was enjoying taking Classic Lit with Anne, but between balancing the school paper, his classes and the internship he’d worked out with Dr. Ward, Gilbert’s freetime was in very short supply.

Most weekends when he wasn’t at Dr. Ward’s he spent them researching pre-med programs or going on university visits with Bash and Mary to figure out which school he wanted to attend for undergrad. Everyone always said senior year was the most important, but Gilbert begged to differ. This spring seemed to have the highest stakes. The pressure to have an immaculate GPA and the perfect combination of extra-curricular activities for his applications in the fall was building day by day.

It was this situation that got him into his current predicament back in December.

***

_“Gilbert, what on earth is that?”_

_Anne and Gilbert were seated at his kitchen table, the surface littered with cookie decorating supplies. The counter behind them, along with the walls, cabinets and floors were still covered in the flour from the fight Anne instigated and Gilbert regretted immediately afterwards, overwhelmed by the extent of their mess. There were dirty dishes piled in the sink and cookie cutters abandoned on the cutting board. Between the two teens was a veritable myriad of multicolored icings, sprinkles, candies and edible glitters. As usual, Anne’s artistic vision had translated better to her chosen medium than Gilbert’s, to no one’s surprise._

_Anne continued, “because it certainly isn’t a christmas cookie. Your snowman is completely deformed,” she snickered, looking disparagingly at Gilbert’s sad attempt at cookie decorating. His snowman’s buttons looked more like dashes and his face was falling off. His scarf was two toned but looked less like a scarf and more like a big blob that had started to drop down the poor snowman’s belly._

_“It looks like Dellie decorated it,” she teased, winking at her friend._

_Gilbert furrowed his brow when he looked across the table at Anne’s angel cookie, perfectly iced and without a single glittered sprinkle out of place. Its robe was lined with golden trim and its wings had perfectly executed feather details with shimmering edible glitter. The angel even had red lips. ‘How was she always so good at this stuff?’ he wondered._

_“Yeah, well we can’t all be little Da Vincis with icing and sprinkles now, can we?” he sniped back, staring back at his plate and squeezing the icing onto his cookie more aggressively, the flour in his hair making it appear salt and pepper far too early for his age._

_Sensing some edge behind his words, Anne’s face fell. She reached out and grabbed his arm, rubbing it with her thumb. “Hey, Gil, I was just kidding. What’s wrong?”_

_Gilbert looked up and locked eyes with Anne. He took a couple deep breaths before opening his mouth, a penitent look on his face. “Sorry. I just let my competitive nature take over for a second. Sometimes it really gets under my skin how much better you are at things than me. I’m trying so hard to make this stupid cookie look decent and you’re over there creating a fricking masterpiece with what seems to be zero effort. I just got annoyed.”_

_“Do you want me to teach you how to make an angel?” she asked, the olive branch obvious. It was the same tactic she used while babysitting little kids, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him._

_Smiling, the tension seemed to disappear from his body. “Really?” he asked, excited, but suspicious she would be willing to share her Christmas trade secrets with him._

_“Yeah, really,” she said while rolling her eyes. “Get over here.” She scooted over and patted the spot on the bench next to her._

_Gilbert hopped up and sidled up next to Anne to see how she created her cookie magic. If he leaned in a little closer than necessary to smell her perfume no one would be the wiser. She was too distracted teaching him how to do one of her favorite things and he was more than happy to be her dutiful pupil._

_“Alright, the first step to good cookie icing is the edges. You want to start there, with a steady pressure on the icing to keep the lines straight.” Anne smiled as Gilbert watched intently from over her shoulder and then tried to mimic her actions, his tongue peeking out from the corner of his mouth in concentration._

_In no time at all Anne had created another cookie and Gilbert had successfully copied her to make one of his own, albeit less perfect than hers. However, it was light years ahead of his previous attempt._

_Gilbert grabbed a serving tray and loaded up their cookies along with two mugs of hot cocoa, one with extra marshmallows for Anne, and nodded his head towards the door. “Wanna take this to the living room?” Anne smiled and nodded enthusiastically._

_Gilbert’s living room was one of Anne’s favorite places in the winter. His fireplace always had a lush garland on the mantle and a roaring fire at the flip of a switch. Mary had a knack for decorating the room to the nines, tasteful knick knacks on shelves and seasonal art on the walls. Not to mention the tree itself. Her tree was stunning, the strings of lights, ornaments and tinsel creating a delicious sparkle in their front window. There was a stark difference between it and her own home. It’s not that Marilla didn’t celebrate Christmas, but their home was always spartan and the holidays were no exception. They had a sparsely decorated tree in the front room that left the Christmas magic severely lacking at Green Gables._

_They settled in on the floor on a blanket near the fire and began to munch on their snacks, talking about anything and everything. Gilbert loved spending time with Anne because talking with her was just so easy. She was smart and quick witted and he never knew what she was going to say. Sometimes she made him laugh and other times she made him crazy because she couldn’t help but argue against his point. But no matter what was said, he was always glad to have her attention._

_After exhausting many topics the conversation turned to school, the anticipation for their upcoming semester too much to ignore. It was the ever present curse of being honors student nerds: they could never go very long without talking about school, even on winter break._

_“So, are you excited to start Classic Lit?” she asked him._

_“Yeah, of course. I know how much you love classics, and I’ve really enjoyed the ones you’ve had me read. This should be fun. Well, as long as Ms. Stacy chooses books as well as you do. Plus I’ll get to spend some more time with you,” he added bashfully, smiling at her. “If we get to choose our spots you’ll sit by me right?”_

_“Sure,” a telling smile grew without her consent as she blushed, her face betraying the fact that they were just friends. “I think you’re really going to like Ms. Stacy. She’s so cool. I want to be a teacher just like her. She’s kind of my hero, actually.”_

_“That cool, huh? I’d better pay attention to see what it takes to become Anne Shirley-Cuthbert’s hero. Sounds like she’s onto something,” he joked, tapping his chin with his finger._

_“Well....if you’re serious about that, there is one thing you could do…” Anne proffered, fiddling nervously with her hands while looking at the fire in front of them._

_“Why do I feel like no matter what you say I’m going to end up agreeing to it?” Gil asked warily. Despite his suspicion, the message didn’t seem to reach his eyes; they were sparkling like they so often did when he talked to her. He was always getting wrapped up in Anne’s schemes, and he’d never admit it, but he loved every minute of them._

_Smuggly she replied, “Probably because history has proven me correct. You always end up saying yes.”_

_“Okay,” Gilbert sighed. “Whatcha got? What am I agreeing to this time?”_

_“The spring play.”_

_Eyes growing wide and eyebrows shooting towards his hairline, Gilbert responded quickly. “Anne. No. Absolutely not. I literally just got done telling you how busy I am!”_

_“Yes….but you also just got done telling me you wanted to spend more time with me, and that you should take notes from Ms. Stacy to see why she’s so cool. You know she’s the director right?”_

_“Yeah, but I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”_

_“So you’re saying there’s a chance?” Anne asked, smiling mischievously._

_“I’m not going to try out for the play, Anne. I haven’t acted in a school play since I was in 4th grade and I had to dress up like a raccoon to teach the audience about protecting wildlife.”_

_Anne clutched her chest, her eyes going soft at the thought of little Gilbert in his costume. There was a photo still hanging in the hallway of his house and she melted every time she saw it. “But you were such a cute raccoon, Gil. That little mask was precious!”_

_“You weren’t even there. You’ve only seen photos. You didn’t have to watch me actually try to act. Regardless of how cute I may or may not have been as a ten year old trash panda, I still don’t understand why this would be a good idea since I’m already overbooked for next semester.”_

_Anne looked at him seriously and folded her hands dramatically in her lap. “College,” she replied, her eyebrows raised for effect._

_“What about college?”_

_“Weren’t you trying to diversify your extra-curriculars? You have academics really well covered. We do the school paper and you have your internship with Dr. Ward. You need to be well-rounded! What better way than to add the arts? The play would look great on your resumé.”_

_“Even so, I don’t think it’s worth the time it would take. I’d have rehearsal every night for months!”_

_“Yeah! Rehearsal every night with me!” Anne put on her biggest puppy dog eyes and pinned them on Gilbert, reaching out to grab his leg. “Please, Gil? Think of all the time we’d get to hang out. And we’re doing a historical play, so it’ll probably help you get a better handle on the books we read in Stacy’s class. She always ends up matching the play to her curriculum.”_

_Gilbert groaned, dragging his hands over his face. He could feel his resolve slipping. He never stood a chance against Anne when she made that face._

_“How do you know I’d even be good enough to get in? You do this every spring. Like we’ve already established, I haven’t acted in ages.”_

_“How about you just promise to audition when school starts back up,” Anne countered. “Just try out and then the rest will be up to fate and Ms. Stacy. Please? It would be so fun to have you there with me.”_

_“Ugh. Fiiiiine. But when midterms come around and I’m exhausted and stressed out of my mind, I’m going to come to you and complain because this is all your fault,” he pouted, eyebrows furrowed as he considered just how much this request would cost him in the future._

_“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re all bark and no bite. I’ll believe it when I see it.” Anne grinned and slapped his knee in excitement, her eyes beaming. “You’re going to be great, Gil. I just know it.”_

__***********************_ _

Looking back on it, he shouldn’t have been surprised that he was cast in the show. The drama department was always short on guys, so they pretty much took anyone with a pulse. Now it was March and Gilbert was deep into rehearsals and working hard to keep his grades up while still fulfilling his other duties.

Yet when Bash and Mary approached him last week about babysitting Dellie for an evening so they could go out for their 3rd anniversary he couldn’t say no. Being an uncle in high school meant he had limited options to help Bash and Mary in meaningful ways, but he could certainly watch Dellie for a few hours to give them a break.

The Blythe/Lacroix house was bustling as Bash and Mary got ready for their big date night. Delphine was content sitting in her high chair in the kitchen, her hands switching between picking up cheerios one by one to pop into her mouth and banging the tray while squealing. She was such a happy baby. As she played, her parents hustled to get ready so as to not miss their dinner reservation.

“It’s 6:30. Where are you, Blythe?” Bash muttered. “You promised you’d be here so we wouldn’t be late,” he asked out loud to no one in particular, annoyance painted on his face. He walked down the hall and towards the kitchen window while fixing his tie and smoothing out his gray suit to check the driveway for any sign of his good for nothing little brother.

Mary stepped out of their room in a classic black dress and red heels. Spotting him in the kitchen she called out, “Bash, can you come here and help me with my necklace? The clasp is too small.”

“Sure love, Gilbert isn’t here anyways.” Sebastian began fiddling with her necklace as he continued, “the moke probably got caught up chatting with Anne after rehearsal and forgot all about us.” After clasping the necklace he turned Mary around and put his hands on her hips, soaking in the fact that this stunning woman was his wife and the mother of his child.

Bash grinned at her, giving her a long look up and down. “Although I can’t really blame him. Being smitten with a lady does crazy things to a man’s mind,” he finished, pressing a soft kiss to her temple, knowing not to ruin her lipstick after a particularly intense scolding early on in their relationship.

Mary smiled and curled up into Bash’s side. “He’ll be here soon. I sent him a reminder text after school to tell him what time he needed to be home. You’re too tough on him sometimes, Sebastian.”

Sighing, he nodded and leaned his head on the top of hers. “I just want to take my beautiful wife out to dinner. Is that too much to ask?”

The kitchen door flew open and Gilbert came rushing in, throwing his lanyard on the kitchen counter and dropping his backpack in the middle of the floor, eyes a little wild.

“Hey guys. Sorry I’m late! Practice ran long today. We were learning how to waltz for our dance scene and it turns out a bunch of Gen Z kids aren’t great at dances that aren’t meant for Tik Tok. Dancing is not my preferred way to spend an afternoon,” he grumbled.

“Aww, Gilbert. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Mary said in an attempt to console him. He seemed very flustered, which was odd for her typically unflappable brother-in-law. He was remarkably mature despite his young age.

“It was a disaster…” Gilbert trailed off, looking at the floor and laughing to himself as he remembered the way he and Anne fumbled through their partner dancing. They were both pretty terrible, but it turned out dancing with Anne was actually fun once they got the hang of it and their toes were no longer in mortal danger.

Bash caught onto this change in attitude immediately, his history with Gilbert proving to be incredibly helpful. He was well versed in this particular situation. “Oh no. Blythe has his moke face on. What did Anne do this time?”

Gilbert immediately grew defensive, his spine stiffening and his facial expression becoming stoic, his body language reflecting his desire to protect his memories from the afternoon from his brother. Crossing his arms he brushed off the question, giving nothing more than a short “Nothing.”

“Sure. Sure. Because nothing makes you get that gooey look on your face after talking about how a dance was ‘a disaster,’” Bash teased, doing a little happy dance at the idea of Gilbert making a fool of himself in front of Anne. “Just tell me, it can’t be that bad.”

“Nope.”

“How about…now?” Bash asked playfully.

Gilbert chuckled, “Still nope.”

“Then tell her,” Bash suggested, winking at Gilbert as he pointed to Dellie in her chair, munching on some Cheerios. “She won’t talk.”

“Don’t you two have somewhere to be? Or are my services not needed tonight?” Gilbert challenged with a raised brow, trying to get them off his back.

“Bash, enough. He’ll tell us when there’s something to tell,” Mary chided. Gilbert only noted that she didn't say there wasn’t anything going on, just that he wasn’t ready to share yet. Was he really that obvious?

She walked over to Gilbert and began to give him the classic babysitter spiel. “Alright, there are leftovers in the fridge for you to eat. You can either cut some of that up for Dellie or make her mac and cheese. Bedtime’s at 8, but you already know that. We’ll be home around 11. Thanks for watching our Dellie girl.” Mary leaned in and kissed Gilbert’s cheek before heading towards the door with Bash.

“Text us if you need anything!” she called as she walked out the door towards their car.

Bash hung behind for just a moment, pointing aggressively at Gilbert with eyes full of fire. “Do not ruin this for me, Blythe. If you text me tonight I swear to God I’m going to call Anne immediately and tell her you’re in love with her, consequences be damned. Got it?”

Gilbert’s eyes were wide as saucers as he gulped at the unexpected aggression coming from his brother. He nodded back resolutely. “Uh. Yep. Got it.”

“Good. Have a good night Dellie! Daddy loves youuuu!” he sing-songed as he closed the door.

Gilbert sank into the nearest kitchen chair and rested his head in his hands for a moment before looking at his niece in the chair next to him. “Dellie, today was crazy.”

She smiled at him with what few teeth she had and cocked her head like a puppy. “I need you to work with me tonight okay? Whatever this happy thing is you have going on, I need you to keep it up. I will feed you all the snacks and we can watch as much Daniel Tiger as you want until it’s time for bed, okay? Think you can do that for Uncle Gilby?”

He held his hand up to Dellie’s to seal the deal with a high five. She giggled and squealed, “Ya!” before slapping her little palm into his. Gilbert couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm and tickle attacked her, her little laughs and screams filling up the kitchen with their sound.

After a moment he gave her a break and kissed her forehead with a dramatic “Mwah! That’s my girl. Alright Del, chicken and veggies or mac and cheese?”

“Mac and chee!” she cried, banging her hands on her high chair tray.

**************************

Everything had started just fine. Gilbert successfully made Dellie’s mac and cheese which she proceeded to get all over her face, bib, shirt, and up both arms. The mess was impressive, but also adorable, so Gilbert got a picture for his instagram. He was not above exploiting his niece’s cuteness for the world. Everybody loved his posts with her.

They’d played with her toys and watched some tv. However, over the course of the night Dellie had become more and more fussy. What started off as general grumpiness escalated to throwing toys, hitting Gilbert and eventually a full blown meltdown.

Nothing was working. No amount of snacks, Daniel Tiger, fun music or walking around the house would do. Dellie was screaming at the top of her lungs, tears pouring down her face and snot was everywhere. Gilbert had no idea what happened, but at some point someone had come and swapped out his sweet little niece with a gremlin.

He kept pacing laps around the house, rocking back and forth, talking to Dellie, telling her stories and pointing out anything remotely interesting inside and outside the house. He’d told her stories about her teddy bears getting married and about the little raccoon on the wall named Uncle Gilby.

He told her funny stories about adventures he’d gone on with her daddy in Trinidad on the cruise they’d won tickets for. He’d danced with her to those insufferable kid music videos and made every silly face he could think of. He desperately tried every trick in the book to no avail. No matter what he did Delphine would just scream harder, burrowing her face into his shoulder and sometimes trying to bite him.

“Dellie, honey, it’s okay. Mommy and Daddy will be back soon! You gotta stop crying, you’re going to lose your voice from screaming,” Gilbert pleaded, his nerves completely frazzled and hair looking equally as crazy. Long gone were the neat, freshly showered curls he’d left the house with that morning. Instead, he had nearly pure fluff between running his fingers through it in despair and putting his hood on in an attempt to block out some of the pterodactyl noises coming from the toddler in his arms.

“What can I do to make it better? You’re breaking my heart,” he whined, kissing her head.

Instead Dellie just continued to wail. Gilbert pulled out his phone and checked the time. 9:30. Shit. So much for bedtime. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Uncle Gilby was officially out of ideas, and without Bash and Mary as an option, he knew what he had to do.

“Hello?” Anne picked up the phone to the sound of a screaming baby. “Oh my gosh, Gil what’s wrong?”

“Anne,” Gilbert sighed in relief, “thank God you picked up. Dellie has been crying for over an hour and I don’t know what to do to make it better. Can you come over here? She was supposed to be sleeping a long time ago and I don’t know what to do. You’re way better at this than I am.”

Dellie’s wail cut him off before he could completely finish his sentence. Her pathetic cries broke Anne’s heart, mostly for Dellie, but also for Gilbert who she knew for a fact was absolutely exhausted from school that day.

“Have you checked her diaper and tried feeding her?”

“ Yes, Anne. I’ve tried everything. Nothing is working. Can you please come over? She loves you and obviously I’m not cutting it tonight.”

Anne sighed, accepting the fact that her plans for a quiet night at home watching netflix were officially ruined. She already knew how Tangled ended and her absolute favorite scene was up next, but Gilbert needed help, so she’d go. “Yeah, okay. Be there in five minutes.”

After what seemed like eons to Gilbert, Anne finally let herself into the house through the kitchen. She kicked off her shoes and followed the sound of Dellie’s crying down the hall into the living room. When she turned the corner she froze at the sight before her. Gilbert was more disheveled than she’d ever seen him and Dellie wasn’t much better, still trying her best to shatter glass with her cries.

When he noticed she’d arrived he nearly collapsed, his brave front falling away immediately upon realizing his backup had arrived. “Anne,” he whispered, speaking as though she was an angel sent just for him.

“Hi, Dellie girl,” Anne cooed as she took the baby from Gilbert. She immediately began a bounce and sway motion while rubbing Dellie’s back which caused her to become slightly quieter. Walking around the room Anne continued talking in her best disney princess voice while Gilbert sunk into the couch out of exhaustion.

“What’s wrong sweet girl? What has you in such a tizzy? You’re such a sad girl, tonight. Look at your face. We gotta get that cleaned up. You’re drooling so much!” Anne turned back towards Gilbert. “Hey, do you have a — Gilbert, what happened to your shirt?”

Gilbert looked at her, confused, then down at his gray hoodie which was sporting a giant wet spot near the shoulder that was wrinkled and stretched out. “Um....I have no idea.” He looked at his shirt like he’d never seen it before, the spot having gone completely unnoticed in the chaos of the evening.

“It looks like she was chew— “ Anne’s eyes sparked in recognition and she held her hand to Dellie’s forehead, furrowing her brows at the heat she felt there. Next she stuck her finger in Dellie’s mouth which the little girl proceeded to chomp on vigorously.

“Gil, she’s teething. She’s inconsolable because her teeth hurt and she’s too warm. Mary didn’t mention anything about it before she left with Bash?”

Gilbert looked at her completely deadpan, “No, she didn’t mention anything about teething. Don’t you think I would’ve remembered to give her medicine if I’d been instructed to do so? I’m not exactly a pediatrician here, but I can follow basic directions,” he sniped back.

“Okay, sorry. I’m just trying to figure out what I walked into. Obviously she’s pretty miserable, but it’s not your fault. We just need to get her more comfortable. Let’s go to the kitchen,” she suggested, taking Delphine with her, Gilbert hot on her trail.

“Teething...what can we use. Gil, check the freezer. Does Mary have any frozen teething rings in there? If not we’ll have to improvise.”

Gilbert opened the freezer and dug around for a while with no luck. “No dice. Any other ideas?”

“Um,” Anne trailed off, trying to think of an alternative. “Okay, grab a dishrag. Put a couple ice cubes in it and bring it over here,” she instructed, sitting down on the bench at the kitchen table. Dellie was still crying, but it was at about half the volume it had been when she arrived. Chomping on Anne’s finger was keeping her pretty content, but Anne couldn’t keep that up for long. Dellie already had some teeth and they were fairly sharp.

Gilbert approached her with the ice filled rag and a curious look on his face. “So what’s the plan?”

“Can you take out my hair tie?”

His eyes went wide, surprise evident on his face. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Why?”

“We need to tie up the ice inside the rag so she can suck on it. Just do it, Gil. She won’t stop chewing on my fingers until we give her something else to munch on.”

“Alright,” Gilbert answered, very unsure about the request. He reached up and removed the elastic from Anne’s messy bun, causing her hair to fall down and cascade over her shoulders, making him momentarily forget what he was supposed to be doing.

“Gilbert,” Anne snapped, holding her hand out for the ice pack. Gilbert shook his head, trying to dispel the fog created by Anne’s hair and quickly bundled up the ice, handing it to Anne.

As soon as Anne gave the ice to Dellie she stopped crying, audibly sighing while she gnawed on the makeshift chew toy. Any rigidity in her little body went away and she rested her head on Anne’s chest, obviously exhausted from her marathon crying session.

“Thank the Lord,” Gilbert whispered, rubbing his hands over his face and sitting on the bench next to Anne. “So that’s all it took? Some ice, a rag and a hair tie? How did you even know to do that?” He leaned forward to look at Dellie, marveling at the fact she was a completely different kid now than she had been ten minutes prior when Anne arrived.

“I’ve been babysitting kids for ages. When they’re teething they’ll chew through anything they can get their hands on trying to cut their teeth. It’s hot and itchy and can hurt so they’ll just cry until they get some relief. She obviously started with your shirt but it wasn’t doing the trick,” Anne said as she reached out to smooth the damp material on his shoulder.

Stroking Dellie’s hair she continued, “I’d give her some baby Tylenol but I’m not sure if Mary did already and I don’t want to risk it. I’m guessing she gave her some earlier this afternoon and forgot to tell you to give her another dose, so once it wore off you were screwed.” Anne punctuated this fact by leaning over and nudging his shoulder with her forehead.

“Dang. When I called you I knew you’d probably be able to help, but I had no idea you were a childcare savant. I’m gonna owe you forever,” Gilbert looked down at her with sheer amazement, smiling in disbelief that she could still surprise him so thoroughly. “Seriously, whatever you want, you got it. You saved my life tonight.”

Anne’s head popped back up and she tilted her face towards him. “Well...I was almost done watching Tangled when you called...any chance you wanna finish it with me?” She flashed Gilbert a big smile. “I had about 20 minutes left. I bet if we sit down on the couch Dellie will crash,” Anne hypothesized, looking down at the snuggly kid in her arms. “She’s already halfway there. If her exhaustion doesn’t get her the music will.”

“Absolutely,” Gilbert smiled brightly at Anne, thrilled with the idea of relaxing with her on the couch as a way to end his hell of an evening.

The trio walked into the living room and Gilbert fired up the tv. “Where did you leave off?” he asked, looking over at her with the remote in his hand.

“They were getting into the boat after the festival with the dancing,” Anne said, blushing a bit at the realization of what she was about to happen. “It was just past the one hour mark.”

“Oh,” Gilbert remarked, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck, realizing what scene was coming up thanks to his multiple movie nights with Dellie when she was actually awake. He looked at Anne and reached for the baby. “Anne, you’re still wearing your coat. Let me take Dellie so you can get comfortable.”

Chuckling, Anne looked down at herself, Dellie passed out on her chest. It was as if in the bustle of her arrival she never realized she hadn’t shed her outer layer. She’d been laser focused in her mission to help Gilbert.

She carefully passed the baby to Gilbert who proceeded to tuck her into his opposite arm against the arm of the couch. She opened her eyes for a second from the jostling, but almost as quickly closed them again, nestling her face into Gilbert’s hoodie, completely content in her uncle’s arms.

At the same time Anne took her coat off and threw it on the back of the couch. When she turned back to look at Gilbert she was momentarily frozen at the sight of him leaning down to press a sweet kiss to Dellie’s head before holding his nose to her hair. It was then that Anne realized she was in way deeper than she’d previously realized.

She could handle Gilbert when he was sharing his thoughts on a poignant piece of literature in class or when they worked on articles for the paper together. She could handle him in his Victorian Sunday suit with the curved collar or his stupid suspenders during play practice or the way he held her when they danced. She could handle the way his eyes lit up when he told her about a new medical article he’d read and the way his excitement about his future made him gush like a little boy. She could even handle him on a normal day with Dellie.

But she could not handle this version of Gilbert. His disheveled curls looking just a little more inviting to run her fingers through because they were already destroyed, his exhaustion making him that much more snuggly. She couldn’t handle the way he was cuddling up with Delphine making her feel like she was seeing a glimpse of the future with Gilbert as a dad himself, curled up in front of the tv watching disney movies with his own child. She couldn’t handle the desire washing over her to be the person who got to see these little moments with him forever.

These feelings were too big, too scary, too overwhelming, so Anne just shoved them down as deep as they could go. She couldn’t afford to think about them right now, not when Gilbert was literally right next to her— maybe not ever. He was one of her best friends and she didn’t want to ruin everything with an unrequited crush. So she put on her best poker face and pretended it was like any normal movie night with her friend.

Gilbert turned towards her and caught her watching him, cocking an eyebrow in her direction. Anne had the decency to blush but didn’t say a word, choosing silence as her best option as it was guaranteed to avoid self-incrimination. “Ready?” he asked. Anne simply nodded her assent leading Gilbert to hit play on the movie.

_”To the boats!”_

Anne and Gilbert settled into the couch as Rapunzel and Eugene paddled out to the middle of the bay. Gilbert couldn’t help but watch Anne instead of the movie. She was so expressive as her penchant for investing deeply in stories caused her to get lost in the moment. Her eyes grew misty as the King and Queen prepared to release their lantern without their daughter once again.

When the lanterns were launched her face lit up into the spitting image of Rapunzel, causing Gilbert to wonder how she would react if he ever took her to that lantern festival in Nova Scotia he’d heard about last spring. Would her eyebrows raise into soft arches, framing her eyes, wide in amazement? Would her soft smile put off a glow rivaling the soaring lanterns? He allowed himself to revel in the thought for a moment, the idea of him and Anne sharing an experience so magical, so cinematic. He also wondered if he ever looked as dopey as Eugene did while looking at Rapunzel. He couldn’t possibly be so transparent, could he?

_"And it’s warm and real and bright, and the world has somehow shifted."_

He was torn from his daydream at the sound of a sniffle. He looked to his right and was met with the sight of Anne surreptitiously wiping tears from her cheeks, the beauty of the scene having been too much for her inner hopeless romantic. Chuckling, he gave her a look that could only be described as extremely fond before softly saying, “Aww, come here,” lifting up his arm onto the back of the couch to invite her to snuggle in opposite of Delphine.

Anne didn’t skip a beat, seeking comfort from Gilbert, the last of her self control fried by the romance of the scene and the emotional response it elicited from her. She tucked into his side, her arm resting in the valley between their torsos and her hair cascading over them. Pulling her legs up on the couch, her knees slightly encroached on his lap, her feet splayed into the space on the cushion behind her.

They continued to watch the movie like that until Mother Gothel stabbed Eugene in his attempt to save Rapunzel. Anne, swept up in the action, flinched hard and curled in tighter to Gilbert, instinctively looking to him for comfort and protection from the scuffle on the screen. He likewise wrapped his arm around her, abandoning its post on the back of the couch to seek out her body, his hand softly gripping her arm.

As the scene progressed Gilbert heard Anne’s breathing become more labored, her shoulders rising and falling more dramatically, causing him to glance down at the girl resting in his arms. Her eyes were glassy and her brows furrowed as she witnessed the tragedy befalling the pair on the screen.

_You are my new dream._

Anne let out a quiet sob as Eugene let out his last breath and Gilbert felt dampness on his chest for the second time that night, tears wetting the fabric of his hoodie once again, this time from the other girl in his life. He couldn’t help but begin to rub his thumb up and down her arm where his hand rested, trying to soothe her in what little ways he could. As the tone of the scenes following shifted to romance once again Anne and Gilbert both tensed a bit, realizing the intimate position they’d fallen into, yet too afraid to move, therefore drawing the other person’s attention to it.

When the credits rolled and Grace Potter began to play any semblance of an excuse or way to ignore the full on cuddling session they’d been engaged in was no longer an option. Anne moved first, lifting her head off of Gilbert’s chest and looking at him bashfully. After a moment he realized he was still holding her and lifted his arm away like he’d been burned. His eyes grew wide and the hand that was previously around Anne deeply entrenched itself in his hair as he chuckled nervously.

Delphine made a snuffling sound and wiggled in Gilbert’s arms reminding him that he was still holding the little girl and she still needed to be put to bed. Gilbert turned off the tv and stood up, tucking Dellie in to face him so she could rest her head on his shoulder, afterwards offering a hand to Anne to help her up also, the pair standing opposite each other with just the light of the fireplace to illuminate the room.

He gave her a meaningful look as he held Dellie to his chest, the toddler still sleeping soundly in the arms of her uncle. “Well, I suppose I should get her to bed considering it’s over two hours past her bedtime,” Gilbert explained, his distaste for the suggestion evident on his face. Leaving Anne was not something he was interested in doing right now.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” she trailed, crossing a leg in front of the other and biting her lip.

“Thanks for coming and saving me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help,” he admitted, ducking his head as he realized his fondness was showing again.

“Anytime, Gil,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm, smiling sweetly. “Seriously, anytime.”

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I attempt to babysit a teething toddler,” he joked. “Do you want me to walk you out?”

“No, that’s alright. Put Dellie to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked, a hopeful glint in her eye.

“Yeah, of course,” he replied, his eyes shamelessly showing a boy in love. “Night Anne.”

“Night Gil,” she said, looking at him for a moment before turning towards the kitchen to put her shoes on.

Gilbert immediately headed up the stairs to Delphine’s room to get her into her crib knowing that Anne could let herself out like she usually did. He entered the nursery and flicked on the little nightlight that projected stars all over the walls and ceiling. Very carefully he placed Dellie in her crib and powered on her baby cam monitor, noting that she was still in her clothes but quickly deciding that a sleeping baby in clothes was better than a crying baby in pajamas.

As Gilbert looked down at his angelic sleeping niece he felt the stress of the day fall away. How could she look so different from the little hellion he tried to appease earlier in the evening? At least there was one good thing that came from the night: he got to see Anne. Gilbert smiled at the memory of their time on the couch and sat down on the floor, reaching through the bars of the crib to stroke Dellie’s forehead before grabbing onto a bar on the crib.

“Hey Dellie? Can I tell you a secret?” Gilbert whispered, deciding he really should take Bash’s advice and talk to someone about what he was feeling. A passed out toddler seemed like a good enough confidant.

“I’m kind of mad at you right now, but you also gave me one of the best nights of my life, so I guess I’ll let that whole gremlin episode slide. Today was...I don’t even know what it was, to be honest. It wasn’t bad, it was very much the opposite of that, but I guess it was undesirable because I felt out of control? Anne just makes me crazy. Sometimes in a bad way, usually in a good way, but I never feel like I’m totally in control when she’s around.”

Gilbert sighed dramatically, then continued, “I seriously can’t catch a break, Del. I see her in class and she’s so beautiful. She sits in front of me and I get distracted looking at all the different shades of red in her hair nearly every day. I tried to count them today and I came up with names for 6 of them before realizing I needed to consult Cole to increase my vocabulary for shades of red. While I was busy trying to decide between copper and bronze Ms. Stacy called on me to give my opinion about the passage we’d been reading and caught me completely off guard. I looked like an idiot. Anne answered the question instead and then turned around and stuck her tongue out at me. I couldn’t even be mad!”

“She made such a good point and I got swept up wondering what goes on in her mind. Because she isn’t just beautiful. She’s brilliant. Every time she opens her mouth to contribute something to the class discussion she steals the show. Whatever kind of bogus, half-baked idea someone throws out there she just demolishes with ease. She strings words together like it’s as easy as breathing. And God forbid she and I fall on opposite sides of an issue. She’s my best friend but she will not take it easy on me. If you try to come between that girl and something she’s passionate about, well, good luck. You won’t get very far. She’ll either verbally eviscerate you or argue her point so eloquently that you can’t help but agree with her by the end. Life is better when you go with the second option.”

“And yet it’s the second option that got me into my next fiasco with her today. The stupid play. How on earth did I let her talk me into auditioning for a play where I’d have to wear a Victorian monkey suit and learn how waltzes from a hundred years ago? I’m a terrible dancer, just ask your dad. I’m doing okay with memorizing my lines and learning my blocking for scenes, but dance practice today was a disaster.”

“The choreographer Mrs. Lynde came today to teach us the dance. She was clapping and counting and trying to call out what we were supposed to do and I couldn’t remember anything. I’m paired up with Anne and I’m pretty sure I bruised her feet because I stomped on them so many times forgetting which foot I was supposed to lead with. Every time I took her into my arms and held her small hand in mine I would melt a little bit and any brain wavelength I should’ve had for dancing went right out the window. Completely fried at the sight of her smiling at me from such a close proximity and the way she’d laugh, throwing her head back, her hair flying out and gleaming under the stage lights every time I messed up. You’d think she’d get mad, but she just laughed at me instead, her eyes doing that pretty sparkle thing they do when she’s delighted.”

“After we finally got the hang of it I think I finally understand why people used to get so excited about the prospect of a ball. Learning the dance was awful, but once we knew the steps it was kind of magical. I got to hold Anne in my arms and spin her around the stage and it was fun. Like legitimately fun, not just tolerable. I’d spin her in and out and our eyes would meet. It felt like no one else was even there with us. Like it was just me and her and nothing else existed, the only thing that mattered was keeping her close to me and ensuring that she maintained that look of pure elation. The idea that I could have a hand in making her look that way was intoxicating and I would love nothing more than to do that every day if she’d just let me.”

“God, Del. I like her so much. She’s my favorite person. I tried out for a play I had no interest in participating in just to make her happy. I learned stupid dances just because I wanted to see her smile. Sometimes I’ll say something I know she’ll get fired up about just to see her rant because she somehow gets more eloquent when she’s angry, like the fire unlocks this vault in her mind where all the big words hide. Not to mention the fact that she’s so cute when she’s mad. I really should try to avoid provoking her, but the temptation is just too real. All of which brings us to tonight.”

Gilbert laid down on the floor, his hands cradled behind his head, needing to lay down for this next part. He continued with his eyes closed, “What even happened tonight? I was so thrown off by play practice that I thought I’d just come home, hang out with you for a while and then figure out what the heck happened. Instead you decided to become possessed by demons in the name of teething and I had to call her like a moron to keep your dad from killing me. I looked absolutely atrocious and acted like a feckless idiot, meanwhile she knew exactly what was wrong. How is she so good at everything?! And after all of that she still wanted to watch Tangled with me rather than leave me to wallow in my incompetence alone.”

He sat up abruptly before continuing, “And she cuddled with me! And cried! She’s seen Tangled a million times. I don’t understand what happened. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, I’m just frustrated because she’s ruined me for life. The one thing I was holding onto with keeping these feelings under control was that we had boundaries. We were friends who hugged sometimes. Now that I know what it’s like to curl up on a couch with her to watch movies and how it feels to comfort her when she cries or is scared I’m never going to be able to go back. Pandora’s box has been opened and I’m never going to be able to sit next to her without itching to wrap her up in my arms and never let go.”

“God, listen to me,” Gilbert lamented, “I sound like an absolute moke. Your dad was right to harass me. I’m an idiot. And she’ll probably never feel the same way about me, so I need to just man up and accept the friendship she’s offering because I need her in my life regardless of if it’s not the way I’d prefer. I love her too much to wreck the relationship we already have. I’m just gonna go do my homework and pull myself together before your parents get home. I’ll work on my poker face and they never need to know Anne was even here. Bash won’t be able to harass me about Tangled or my lack of parenting instincts and I’ll be able to live to see tomorrow without dying from embarrassment.”

Standing up he peered down into the crib once more, Dellie still fast asleep despite his incredibly long monologue. “Night, Del. I know you didn’t hear any of that, but I really needed to say it. You’re a great listener. Let’s do this again next time Anne decides to ruin my life.”

Turning around he quietly walked out of the nursery, carefully clicking the door shut and went back to the living room. When he reached the doorway his heart stopped completely and he immediately wished for Zeus himself to send a bolt of lightning and kill him on the spot. If his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, there sat Anne, sitting on his couch, her coat in a pile on the floor at her feet, holding the baby monitor in her hands, staring at it completely unaware of the outside world as her face reflected a whirlwind of thoughts buzzing inside.

Gilbert’s eyes nearly popped out of his head and he began to panic, wondering just how much she heard, realizing he just told Delphine more than he’d ever even processed internally before. If Anne heard any snippet of that conversation he was screwed.

“Wha— what are you doing here?” Gilbert asked, panic lacing his voice, his eyes wild like an animal stuck in a trap who’s wondering if it should chew its own leg off to escape its death sentence.

Anne’s head snapped up at the sound of his voice, effectively breaking her from her daze. She looked down alarmed at the monitor in her hands before she chucked it to the other side of the couch as if she were trying to destroy the evidence of her eavesdropping. “Huh?” she asked, shaking her head, still fairly out of it.

Gilbert gulped and asked again, more pointedly this time. “What are you doing here?” he asked, approaching her slowly.

“Coat. I forgot my coat…” she trailed, blushing furiously and avoiding Gilbert’s eyes.

Continuing his slow approach, he warily asked, “And how long have you been here?”

“.....umm….” She was avoiding the question and nervously fiddling with the ends of her hair that was still loose from making the emergency chew toy.

He stood directly in front of her, looking down at her with his hands on his hips. “Anne.”

“The whole time. I’m sorry!” she apologized, standing up unexpectedly from her perch on the couch causing him to lurch backwards to avoid colliding with her. “I forgot my coat and I had just walked in here to grab it when the monitor turned on and I heard you start to talk and then you mentioned my name, so I stayed and listened. Then you just kept talking and talking and talking and well, you were talking about me so I listened. And eventually I sat down and well, you know the rest,” she finished, desperately trying to explain despite her mortification at being caught.

Gilbert’s hands immediately came up to cover his face, sitting down and groaning as he leaned over and held his head in his hands. “Oh my God. Just kill me now. Seriously. Just kill me so I can die and then we never have to talk about this ever again. If that doesn’t sound desirable to you, if you’re against murder or don’t wanna have to bother disposing of my body or whatever then I’ll just look for plane tickets. I’ve heard Timbuktu is nice and warm this time of year.” He flopped back against the couch, his covered face now directed towards the ceiling instead of the floor.

Anne smiled and reached out to try to remove his hands from his face. “Gil. Gilbert.” He made no effort to move and no indication that he could hear her speaking. “Gil, look at me dammit.” she snapped, effectively gaining his attention and pulling him to stand in front of her. “You don’t need to die and you don’t need to move to Timbuktu.”

“Um, yeah, pretty sure I do,” he said, his mortification so intense it caused him to look ill.

“You might want to rethink that,” she countered.

“And why’s that?” he asked, genuinely curious why she was giving him a break.

Smiling softly at him, she reached out and took his hand, pulling him towards her. “Well, if you do either of those then I can’t do this,” she said before taking his face between both her hands and planting a kiss on his lips.

When she pulled away Gilbert’s eyes were closed and he looked utterly confused, his lips still puckered and his eyebrows furrowed tightly. After a moment he opened his eyes, “Uh….” For the first time in his life Anne had not only surprised him, but had stunned him into complete silence, any memory of his grasp on the English language momentarily gone from his mind.

“Gil, you don’t have to do any of those things because I like you too, you idiot. I just didn’t know how to tell you, and then I heard _that_ ,” she cried, dramatically motioning towards the forgotten baby monitor on the couch, “and I was flattered and overwhelmed and embarrassed for getting caught listening. I didn’t think you felt the same way so I’ve just tried to play it cool this whole time, but I’m terrible at it. I fricking cried during Tangled because I was jealous of fictional characters, Gil. Fictional characters! Whatever you said up there, I can guarantee you that I’ve had equally embarrassing thoughts about you.”

Reaching out, she grabbed at his hoodie, resting her head on top of her hands on his chest. “Do you have any idea how hot you look during play practice in those stupid suspenders?” she grumbled. She looked up with fiery eyes before continuing, “It’s basically ruined my life every afternoon since we started having costumed rehearsals.”

Hearing Anne’s admission, something shifted in Gilbert, his confidence coming back as he began to comprehend the fact that Anne liked him too. He smiled at her, a wicked glint in his eyes. Reaching out to grab her by the waist he leaned in closer and spoke quietly, his voice deeper than she was used to hearing. “So you think I’m hot, huh?” he teased.

Exasperated by this cocky version of Gilbert and not quite ready to let him see just how much she liked it, she swatted his chest. “No, I think you’re just beautiful on the inside. Your outsides suck,” she sniped, rolling her eyes.

Taking her by the wrists he placed her arms around his neck before returning his own to her waist. “Well, I’m going to count on that being an excellent example of your scathing sarcasm because I liked your first reason better,” he chuckled. He reached up and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, following it down and wrapping the ends around his fingers, enraptured by the fact she wasn’t trying to cause him bodily harm for even harboring the thought.

Anne looked up at him with wide eyes, unsure of what this new development meant for them. “Hey Anne,” Gilbert whispered, reaching up to cup her face with both his hands, leaning closer to her until their noses were touching. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

Before she could fully understand the meaning of his words his lips were on hers, soft but insistent. He pulled her closer, his thumbs brushing against her cheekbones, caressing over the freckles that were still faintly there even after the long winter. As she kissed him back she tangled her fingers in his hair causing him to sigh into her mouth giving her the opportunity to deepen the kiss. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him before getting lost in the movement of their mouths together, the culmination of months, if not years of unexpressed feelings.

After a while their kisses slowed once again, Gilbert leaving a final kiss to her mouth before resting his forehead against hers, their breathing labored. Eventually their eyes fluttered open, coming out of what felt like a dream state, for surely reality could not be this sweet. When their eyes met they both flushed, smiling and letting out a small laugh in tandem.

“So,” he smiled, his eyes alight with happiness, “does this mean you’re my girlfriend?”

Anne reached up on her toes and pressed a solid kiss to his lips.

“Is that a yes?” he questioned, his trademark eyebrow quirk making her smile.

“Yeah, Gil. A kiss means yes. You might wanna file that one away for future reference,” she teased, winking at him shamelessly just to see how affected he’d become. She was not disappointed— the action turned him into the human embodiment of the heart eyes emoji.

Gilbert wrapped both his arms around Anne’s waist and lifted her up while spinning her around the living room. “Anne Shirley-Cuthbert is my girlfriend!” he shouted to the empty room.

“Shhh! Gilbert you’re going to wake Delphine!” Anne scolded him, causing him to stop short and set her down abruptly.

“Right. She’s here,” he looked the clock over Anne’s shoulder, “and Bash and Mary will be home any minute. As much as I love this and don’t want you to leave, if you’d prefer to avoid getting the Spanish inquisition from my brother you should probably run while you still can.”

“Yeah, that might be a little too much excitement for one night,” she sighed wistfully, lowering her arms from around his neck. Looking expectantly at him, she smiled, “See you at school?”

“How about I pick you up instead?” he offered. “We can grab coffee on our way to school. I have some follow up questions,” smiling dopily, holding her small hands within his own larger ones.

  
She returned an equally besotted look, “Okay, that sounds nice,” she said, smiling back at him. After giving him one last hug she turned and headed towards the kitchen to leave. She was about halfway there when she heard Gilbert’s voice.

“Hey Anne, aren’t you forgetting something?” he joked, his eyebrow raised as he held out her jacket in front of him. “Am I going to need to put a tracking device on this thing or is this more of a one night only problem?”

“Oh hush you,” she chided as she allowed him to help her into the coat. After it was on she turned to face him, reaching up to stroke his cheek as he held her in his arms once again. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” he promised before kissing her one last time. “Goodnight.”

Sliding her hands down his arms, she squeezed them briefly before reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. “Night, Gil.”

“Bye,” he said, smiling like a lovesick fool as she walked out of the living room and headed to her car.

He stood there in a daze until he heard her car door slam, causing him to sit down as to not stand in the middle of the room like a weirdo. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there replaying the evening in his mind when he heard a car pull up and two doors slam shut in the driveway.

Gilbert greeted Bash and Mary as they entered the house, “Hey you two, how was your date?”

They looked at each other mischievously, smiling before looking back at Gilbert. “We were going to ask you the same thing, Blythe.”

Gilbert’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, shock on his face. “Wha--huh? What date? I didn’t have a date, I have no idea what you’re talking about. This was a totally normal, run of the mill babysitting night. No dates here.”

Bash laughed heartily while Mary just raised her eyebrows at him with her arms crossed in front of her. “Gilbert,” she began, “we have a nanny cam, remember? We logged in to check on you and saw you all snuggled up with Anne on the couch. Would you like to change your answer?”

“Um…..” he trailed, blushing furiously, scratching his head. “I’m going to plead the fifth.”

“Mary, pay up. I win! I win I win I win!” Bash began dancing around the living room. “That is a guilty boy if I’ve ever seen one. They totally kissed. My boy had game in that video feed and I’ve never seen him blush so hard in his entire life, and I live for embarrassing this child.”

Huffing, Mary reached into her purse and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, slapping it into Bash’s awaiting palm.

“Seriously?! You two had a bet?! You’re unbelievable. You’re supposed to be the adults around here,” he scolded them, a smile fighting to escape his false sense of outrage. “I’m going to bed. You can think about your actions and apologize for exploiting my teenage years for your own entertainment in the morning. Night guys. Happy Anniversary,” he said sarcastically before stomping up the stairs to hide in his room.

Sitting on his bed he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that not only had Anne become his girlfriend tonight, but Bash and Mary had obviously been waiting for this moment for a very long time. He wanted to be mad, but they were so excited for him, even if he technically didn’t say anything. Instead of getting huffy, he chose to pull out his phone and shoot Anne one last text.

**Gilbert:** Thanks for coming over tonight. I had a great time <3

**Anne:** Me too. Best night I’ve had in a long time. <3

**Gilbert:** Agreed. I can’t wait for coffee tomorrow. I have so much to tell you.

**Anne:** Me neither. Goodnight, Gil :)

**Gilbert:** Night Anne-girl. I’ll pick you up at 7 :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, thanks for reading! I mentioned a few weeks ago on my WIP that I was moving and would be busy. Little did I realize that over that span of time my city would be at the center of a national protest. While I was packing up my apartment there were protests all over my city and rioters were lighting fires mere blocks from my place. Needless to say life got a little intense, so I chose to write a disgustingly fluffy modern au as a way to escape the stress. 
> 
> I hope this gives you all a little reprieve as well. Stand up for what you believe, engage in change in the ways you're comfortable with, but remember that this movement is a marathon, not a sprint. It's okay to take a break and do some of the "normal" things that make you happy. Rome wasn't built in a day. 
> 
> As usual, I'd love to hear from you! You guys make writing fun :)


End file.
